LONDON, July 26, 2013 (AFP) – Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme rejected a call Friday from a leading British politician to stage a parallel women’s version of the race.

Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the main opposition Labour Party, wrote an open letter to Prudhomme last week urging him to look at staging a women’s event at next year’s Grand Depart, the opening stage of the tour, which is being staged in the northern English county of Yorkshire.

Harman, who has campaigned for women’s rights throughout her career, saw her letter to Prudhomme backed by a 70,000 strong petition.

But Prudhomme said simply bolting on a women’s race to a Tour that is already full to capacity was not practical.

“It would have been better for (Harman) to talk to us at the end of one of the stages or after another race,” said Prudhomme on a visit to Yorkshire on Friday. “We are not the only organizers of cycling in the world.

“Also, it would have been much easier to talk to us directly instead of a petition and (finding out by) opening your mailbox one morning and you don’t know what has happened.

“We are open to everything. Having women’s races is very important for sure. (But) the Tour is huge and you cannot have it bigger and bigger and bigger down the road—it is impossible.”